Archive for the ‘Down Syndrome’ Category

A friend of mine wrote this inspiring article in last week’s Washington Post Magazine, about a family that has birthed or adopted several children with Down Syndrome.

Many sources report that there are long waiting lists in the U.S. for parents who want to adopt children with Down Syndrome. This is somewhat obviously due to the medical industry and wider culture’s push to abort “less-than-perfect” children, leading to a 90% abortion rate of babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome.

The article indicates the loving experience that families have when they welcome children with special needs (despite the task being sometimes difficult–or possibly, because of it):

Nina hopes that more people will face the fear of having a handicapped child — and come out on the other side, as she did. When she was pregnant with her other children, she says, she would think, “ ‘Oh, my God, what if I had a Down child?’” Now she says, “Why was I so afraid?”

The National Down Syndrome Adoption Network both supports parents in choosing adoption of their own children with special needs if they feel they are not in a position to parent them, and helps parents interested in adopting to link up with such families or with older children.